From the outside, this 11,000 square foot Memphis, Tennesse mock castle doesn’t look like it boasts a history too different from that of Elda. And its earlier history is relatively similar: A wealthy man, Robert Brinkley Snowden, built the property in 1896 for his family and dubbed it Ashlar Hall.
They lived there enjoying its eight bedrooms, six bars, five bathrooms, and indoor pool until his death in 1942. After about a decade of grueling upkeep, the family decided to turn it into a place of business, operating it as a restaurant. At some point after that, Ashlar Hall and the surrounding land were purchased by investors who built skyrises around it and left it to rot.
But the inside looks completely different today, telling a decidedly less conventional tale. Fast forward to the 1990s, when Robert Hodges, a.k.a. the self-proclaimed Prince Mongo, transformed it into a nightclub, The Castle.
Mongo believes he is an alien ambassador from the imaginary planet of Zambodia and famously sports steampunk goggles, a long white wig, and rubber chickens around town. Among many of his bizarre decisions, he filled the parking lot with sand so it could be used as a “beach” to take the party outside when the fire marshal shut down the nightclub due to repeated overcrowding issues.
The most recent owner, property developer Juan Montoya, bought it at a tax sale for $59,000 and plans to transform the property into an event venue.
credit; www.housebeautiful.com
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